Anne hates Richard and even wants him dead when we first meet her. She has every right to considering that he has killed her father and husband. But, by the end of the scene Anne has accepted a ring from Richard and will allow him to be in charge of the proper burials of her loved ones. WHY!?
Hate is one of the strongest emotions and I’ve heard it said that the closest emotion to hate is love. Now doesn’t this seem ironic? I’ve also heard it said, and agree, that part of what makes Shakespeare’s writing so timeless is that he explores human nature, which everyone everywhere can relate to since we are all human. Naturally all his plays deal with love and hate, usually more of one than the other, but the character of Anne is certainly the greatest and craziest embodiment of these two I have ever encountered. After noting this duality in her behavior I did some lite reading on the science of emotions, specifically love and hate. I read online that these two emotions are indeed scientifically linked. Some of the nervous circuits in the brain used when feeling hatred are the same ones used when experiencing the feeling of romantic love. It is impossible to know if Shakespeare had this scientific knowledge but one thing is sure: Shakespeare had a great insight and understanding of human nature and this character (Anne) is certainly an example of a mind boggling connection between two seemingly opposite emotions.
here is one of the articles that i read on love and hate:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/love-and-hate-emotions-intimately-linked-in-brain-14023776.html
5 comments:
Agreed its uncanny how closely related the emotions of love and hate can be related. Anne is the perfect character to display this idea in a human form. Many times when two people are in a relationship outsiders will question things like "how can they be together?," "how could she forgive him?" or "when will she learn he's never going to change". Although I suppose Anne also raises the notion of you don't know how someone feels until you walk a mile in their shoes. Anne could view Richard as her only safe option, yes he murdered her husband and father but he is also able to provide a lifestyle that contains social mobility for her. So is it love or a convient last resort?
I felt the same way regarding Anne. It's hard to tell if she really forgives him or if she's just letting him in to seek her revenge. It was also pointed out that she really may not have had a choice. Her options are limited as to where her future lies. She's lost two people dear to her that could have protected her, but with them gone she may just have to surrender herself whether she likes it or not, even if that means loving Richard.
Nikki I love this topic of love and hate. I never really thought about how closely they are related, but the more I started to think about it, the more I realized that it's true. People are willing to do crazy things in the name of both love and hate. Richard (pretends) that everything he did was because he loved Anne, and he wanted her to have a better husband. Maybe that's true, maybe it's a lie. Maybe he acted out of a hatred so intense some of us will never understand it. Anne, though we think acted irrationally, maybe was moved by Richard III's words. Maybe she never truly loved her husband, but secretly always loved Richard? We will never really know for sure. Even today, though, we see people who are so enraged with love and jealousy and rage over a break up that they wind up killing the person they supposedly love because if they can't have them, no one will. It's a bit insane, really, but an interesting concept...one that Shakespeare certainly explores in his tragedies. So is it really human nature to act in this way, or have we just not evolved as much as we like to think we have in the past few hundred years?
I agree with your frustration regarding Anne's change of heart towards Richard. It seems a little fast for her to have these feelings right after she expressed her loathing for him. But we've seen this frustration in so many of Shakespeare's other play's we've read. Iago was painfully annoying, and his real motive was unclear in Othello which made him even more of a frustrating character. Going back to Anne's flip-flop feelings, they are very real in nature. I'm sure there have been times when everyone questions someone for doing something out of "love" or out of "hate." It is something we'll never really understand and Shakespeare had a knack for that, that is what makes his plays so interesting and that is what catches us. The natural human emotion he can create is uncanny, and that is a huge part of his plays.
I really like how you looked into the connection between the hate and love. I can see to an extent how they are both linked in someway. They are both two extremes but are in reality really linked together. In the case of Anne she has this deep hatred toward Richard for what he did but deep down she is able to maybe look beyond that. Maybe it is for a selfish reason? there are many reasoning's to this love hate relationship or shall I say Hate love relationship. I feel that because of how Shakespeare's plays touch upon subjects that we can relate to in today's day and age that is a huge factor in why they have remained timeless classics.
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